Many individuals employ the use of writing pads, such as steno pads, notebooks and the like, for writing, taking notes and drawing. Notebooks used to hold sheets of paper have been widely used for many years and utilize a flat, rectangular supporting platform and a working surface over the supporting platform which typically is a stack of paper. The user can either rest the supporting platform on a solid surface or hold the notepad by one hand, and at the same time use another hand to work on the working surface.
In general, notebooks have been used to cover the writing area of sheets of paper to protect the writings contained thereon. Accordingly, covers on notebooks have typically been configured and dimensioned to match the writing area. Many notebook covers have been constructed with paper or plastic materials to add further protection to the sheets of writing paper. However, paper and plastic materials are substantially flexible and, thus, leave the writing paper susceptible to damage, such as from impact.
These pads often have fragile covers that are not conducive to writing when standing or on the go. The writing surface is unstable and unbalanced when held upright which leads to inaccurate writing and drawing. Additionally, these writing pad covers do not offer much protection from spills, rainy weather and the like and the pages of these pads can become damaged easily, thus ruining the notes and drawings thereon.
Various devices have been described in prior art relating to notepad covers and clipboards to support and protect notepads. These include devices that have been patented and published in patent application publications. These devices generally relate to folders and portfolios that provide protection to materials contained therein. The following is a list of devices deemed most relevant to the present disclosure, which are herein described for the purposes of highlighting and differentiating the unique aspects of the present invention, and further highlighting the drawbacks existing in the prior art.
These prior art devices have several known drawbacks. Each of these devices addresses the need for portable writing surfaces and in some cases storage of supplies, writing implements and drafting tools. The current invention goes beyond the present art to provide a three panel notepad cover that provides support and protection for the notepad pages contained therein. It incorporates a surface area that allows a user to write while standing upright or on the go.
In light of the devices disclosed in the prior art, it is submitted that the present invention substantially diverges in design elements from the prior art and consequently it is clear that there is a need in the art for an improvement to existing notepad covers. In this regard the instant invention substantially fulfills these needs.